More and more Chinese adults are deciding to stay independent and opt for the single life, reports the Wall Street Journal.
According to the WSJ, there are around 200 million single adults – 14.6% of the total population – in China at the moment, and that number is continuing to grow. In 1990, the number of single adults was just 6%, according to a local news outlet.
Those figures are still far lower than countries in the Western world. In the US and UK, for instance, the number of unwed adults was around 50% in 2011.
In China, the lower percentage of singles is attributed to high societal and familial pressure to get married. The government has also added to the pressure to marry young by giving women over 27 the title of “leftover women,” which has pushed singles to get married earlier. Cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai are even making strides to reduce the number of single adults by favoring wedded couples for promotions and raises in the workplace.
But while the idea of single adulthood is at odds with traditional Chinese culture, more young people are favoring the single life, sometimes even delaying marriage or not getting married at all. In many cases, young single adults abstain from going home for the holidays in order to avoid pressure from their relatives to get married, according to the WSJ.
The higher rate of singles in China may also be part of an overall trend in Asia to marry later. According to the Economist, women in rich Asian countries seem to be turning their backs on marriage altogether:
Women with university degrees are more likely to marry late, or not at all, than those with primary education. Women who live in cities and have jobs are marrying later, or less, than rural women or those who work at home. Everywhere, female marriage rates are declining and the age of marriage is rising. In China, as women get richer and better educated, they are starting to repeat the behaviour of their Japanese and Korean sisters, pushing up the number of unmarried men.
The one child-policy, which was officially abandoned last month, has only further complicated things by skewing marriage trends to create gender imbalances and a "marriage squeeze."
Despite all the hardships they face, single adults have increasingly found more ways to love their lives enough to not conform to societal standards. With Singles Day being one of the most popular holidays of the year and a newfound independence to break free of traditional constraints, it’s no wonder that singles are increasing in number.
[Image via NBC]
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